Microsoft has announced two key cloud-based partnerships, helping Centrica and NHS Scotland roll out their digital transformation projects.
The tech giant's tie-up with energy and domestic services supplier Centrica is focused on helping its staff better service energy customers. It will use Microsoft Dynamics 365 to autonomously plan and dispatch British Gas engineers when required by customers. This will replace legacy systems, where it often took too long to get engineers out to jobs.
Centrica employees will be able to track this activity and then advise customers when their service engineers will arrive. The system combines Microsoft AI tech with applications in its Dynamics 365 suite, such as PowerBI, Logic App, Flow and PowerApps.
"Just over a year ago we announced that Centrica had transitioned to Microsoft Azure, a move at the heart of our digital transformation ambitions," Matthew Bateman, managing director for Field Operations at British Gas said.
"This announcement marks the next stage on that journey building cutting-edge intelligence into the way we run our field operations to improve the service we deliver for our customers in their homes."
Microsoft has also announced a partnership with NHS Scotland, deploying its Office 365 productivity suite to all 161,000 employees in an effort to boost collaboration and offer better care to patients.
One of the anticipated benefits of the integration of Microsoft cloud apps is that patients will experience shorter wait times because different departments (such as social care and health services) will be able to communicate more effectively.
Additionally, Microsoft will help migrate all existing NHS systems to Windows 10 E5 over the next three years to protect the public sector organisation from potential cyber attacks.
"By consolidating hundreds of separate systems across Scotland's NHS and care services, we can ensure that our hard-working staff are able to focus more on patients than processes," Jeane Freeman, Scotland's Cabinet Secretary for Health and Sport said.
"And at the same time, we have a dutyto protectpeople's information safely and securely.As part of that, moving to Office365isgoing to make our systems more resilient."
